What was he supposed to do? Talk to them?!

Education is certainly a hard field to work in and especially when dealing with little kids. It’s a line of work that can’t be phoned in and really requires a certain passion to keep at it day in and day out. So, it’s especially surprising when these people get caught doing something uncharacteristically anti-social.

Enter Yutaka Koike, the head of a private kindergarten in Fuchu, Tokyo. At about 2:45 in the afternoon of 2 November, while riding his bike, he got stuck behind a pair of ten-year-olds on their way home from elementary school. Like groups of kids – or adults for that matter – often do, they were walking in a formation that took up the entire road.

▼ Hardly an uncommon sight

It’s a common annoyance that is usually easily overcome by saying “excuse me” or even “get the f*$% out of the way” if one was so inclined to curse out little kids. But Koike was allegedly not in the mood for any of that and instead spat on one girl’s head when he finally got a chance to move past them.

However, at just that moment a police officer spotted the saliva attack and swooped in to arrest Koike. That might seem like an incredible coincidence, but actually the cop was on the look out for such an assault after six other cases of elementary and junior high students getting spat on were reported in the area.

Koike admitted to the spitting, and told police: “They were taking up the whole road. The plan was to bring attention to what they were doing.” He also confessed that he was involved in other such incidents and police are currently investigating them to press further charges.

Meanwhile, readers of the news expressed their shock that someone in charge of educating young minds was so ridiculously bad at it.

“The guy is over 70 and he still doesn’t know how to behave.”
“Spitting is absolutely assault. Keep reporting it!”
“I’m surprised this guy is the head of a kindergarten.”
“He runs a kindergarten…”
“The old guy is the worst, but I still don’t completely sympathize with the kids blocking the way. I hate that.”
“Seems like he was doing it around his own school too. He probably didn’t even understand that what he was doing was wrong.”
“He sounds like a Yo-Kai Watch monster.”

Indeed, even if justified, suddenly appearing in front of children and spraying them with saliva is certainly behavior more expected from ghouls and yokai than people. That’s not even taking into account the fact that we’re all still trying to keep the reins on a deadly pandemic which is easy spread by saliva.

▼ These have been trying times for habitual spitters and loogie hockers alike

Even though the exact school Koike runs was not reported, there is no doubt that word of his arrest spread rapidly among parents in the area, and pretty much flushed the kindergarten’s reputation down the drain like so much old-man spit out of a little kid’s hair.

At his age, he can probably just step down, but that still leaves the other staff has hapless victims of his behavior. Perhaps they can redeem themselves by getting all the kindergarten students to band together and perform an adorable and near-flawless rendition of Dmitri Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5. It can be done!

Source: Asahi Shimbun, NHK News Web, Hachima Kiko
Top image: Pakutaso
Insert image: Pakutaso (1, 2)
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